Why should you open a bank or brokerage accounts abroad? Because it gives your investment portfolio higher returns and lower risks. How?

​(1) It gives you access to much more investment options not available is your home country. For example, the US accounts for roughly 50% of the world's stock market capitalization. It has the larger number of companies listed and a highly liquid market, which decreases risks of not having a buyer when you want to sell your stock or a seller when you want to buy it. However, the London stock exchange is the most international in the world with approximately 2,200 companies from more than 70 countries represented. Brokerage firms in the Europe allow customers to buy and sell assets in more than 20 countries without losing money by constantly having to exchange currency. (Why do I need more investment options?)

(2) Individuals cannot buy foreign bonds (denominated in local or foreign currency) from their home countries, unless they are willing to invest a high amount in one single bond (usually100 thousand dollars is the minimum required for investing in any emerging market and many all developed countries bonds). Different than stocks that can have negative growth (i.e. you can lose money), bonds investment never have negative growth. You will always increase your capital for the perspective of the asset denomination. Bonds can be prefixed (i.e. you know exactly how much you will earn in a given period) or pegged to multiple factors such as inflation or interest interest. (Why should I buy foreign bonds?)

(3) Local banks or brokerage firms usually do not hold foreign currencies or allow you to buy assets (e.g. stocks, bonds, funds) in foreign currencies. And if they do, their variety of investments is very limited and/or they charge very high fees for those investments at terrible exchange rates.(why should I invest in other currencies?)

(4) When travelling, specially to countries that do not accept credit cards very well (e.g. Spain, Italy, most developing countries), you do not need to be walking around with large amounts of cash, pay fees, and accept very unfavourable exchange rates charged by your home bank. (How can I decrease exchange rate fees to a minimum?)​(5) For most of our clients we advice to bank/brokerage accounts in jurisdictions that do not tax non-resident capital gains. For example, if you are not a US person or US resident, capital gains from stocks and bonds made in the US are not taxable. In the UK, non-resident capital gains are taxable. However, the first 11 thousand pounds that you make each year are not taxable (i.e. maximum allowance). Within the Eurozone, many jurisdictions do not tax capital gains of non-residents. Moreover, even if any tax needs to be paid to foreign governments, it almost always can be credited against local gains due to multiple bilateral agreements. Each person has a different situation and dissimilar preferences. So, we recommend to reach out to us so we can construct a personalized tax strategy for your needs. If you are willing to move abroad, it may even be possible to legally avoid any kind of income taxation. (How could it be legal?)

IMPORTANT: THERE IS NO TAX OR INVESTMENT STRATEGY THAT IS CLEARLY BETTER. IT ALL DEPENDS ON YOUR GOALS, RESOURCES, AND CITIZENSHIP.

For example, are you willing to move abroad? If so, where? How long do want to stay in each place? What is your annual income? How much money are you willing to invest? Do you want short term gains or long term investments? What is (are) the source(s) of your income? How much taxes do you pay annually? Do you want to decrease your tax duties or completely remove it? Do you feel like you want to pay some taxes even if you do not need to? What is your citizenship? Do you have multiple citizenships?​Depending on each of these answers the best investment/tax strategy for you will differ. In order to see what option is best for you and to help with the implementation of the strategy feel free to reach out to us.

You do not need to be rich to create a global investment portfolio. Most of the bank and brokerage accounts we open do not have minimum initial deposit or maintenance fee. Thus, you can invest as much as you want or even leave the accounts empty until you have enough capital or interest to invest abroad. ​